Everything But Me
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: "Wherever you are is where I want to be, look around and tell me what you see. Everything, everything but me. No matter how many miles stand in between, in my heart is where you'll be, holdin' on to all our dreams. With everything, everything but me." Was it just Seth's anger that sent her looking for comfort or did he truly mean it this time?
1. Needing To Clear The Mind

_**Earlier that night…**_

" _Sort of like how you two did the promos for The Beast In The East pay per view…" Eric Johnson said as Amanda and Finn were ready for the photo shoot leading to NXT TakeOver Brooklyn._

 _The two nodded and Amanda turned her back to the camera, her small hands lightly drifting up until she had gotten to the third button on Finn's black collar shirt, him unbuttoning the first two and her unbuttoning the rest before she rested her hands on his sides and pulled the tucked in part of his shirt out as Eric snapped the photos._

 _The paint on Finn was revealed for the camera before he reached over and pulled Amanda to him, his teeth clipping the part where her neck and right shoulder met, Amanda moving towards him._

 _Checking the final results of the photos, they got the final approval._

 _It was later when Raw was airing that the scripted segment went as planned… until Seth struck Amanda with the chair and she fell to the mat, holding onto her side. She rolled out of the ring and reached the back, Finn helping her to the trainer's office._

" _You're gonna be sore for a few weeks… just take it easy. And I also recommend trying to sort things out with Seth, it seemed a little personal out there."_

 _Amanda nodded after what Dr. Amann had said and she and Finn left the trainer's room without a word, feeling worn out._

" _I'm gonna go grab my things and meet up with you in the garage, okay?" Amanda said before they hugged, Finn kissing her on her forehead before they let go._

" _Seth needs to control himself out there…" Finn replied before going to find Sami._

 _After grabbing her things from the Divas locker room, Amanda headed out of there too and walked towards the parking garage in the arena, grabbing her phone… but then she stopped when she heard it._

" _How was I supposed to know that her ribs would crack?"_

" _That tends to happen when you slam a steel chair against them!"_

" _Guys, knock it off! I'm surprised Mandy's not stormed in here yet to try to stop this fight!"_

 _The yelling wasn't all that hard to identify… Amanda was trying to shake off the remnants of the pain but part of her wanted to confront Seth now._

" _She's too busy hanging around that guy in NXT to think about us anymore! If we're not enough to hold her attention, that just proves how fickle she is!"_

" _You just don't like to share Mandy with anyone else!"_

" _Yeah, you're damn right I don't! But why would she care?! She just goes and does whatever she wants without caring who it affects!"_

" _You're crossing a line you have no business crossing, Rollins!"_

" _Am I?! And I suppose those promos involving their Demon and Angel personas are just acting, right?! Whoever started the storyline between her and Balor, they fucked up what was left! Maybe Alexa was right, maybe Mandy has become a thirsty whore_ _towards Balor!"_

 _Amanda felt horribly disturbed by that, tears trailing down her face faster than she could stop them… she turned away and kept walking down the hallway._

 _As far as she was concerned, she never wanted anything to do with Seth Rollins again…_

 **Present time…**

"Is that… that is smoke!" Sami said before he and Finn ran towards the doors and pushed them open.

The small figure wasn't hard to identify, chestnut brown hair in a disheveled ponytail… but Finn and Sami knew something was wrong when they saw Amanda tossing things into a lit trashcan in the garage of the hotel.

Walking closer and pulling Amanda away from the flames, they could see that they were photos she didn't keep on her phone… photos of her and Seth. Amongst the photos were a _Shield_ hoodie and _Redesign, Rebuild, Reclaim_ wristwraps. Sami grabbed a fire extinguisher and put the flames out as Finn pulled Amanda away from it.

"Mandy, what happened?!" Sami asked but it seemed like Amanda didn't hear him.

"What else happened, Mandy? Did it go beyond the storyline?" Finn asked once he saw that Amanda's hazel eyes were red from crying.

Amanda nodded as she let Finn take her duffel bag off of her right shoulder and put it onto his left one, his right arm wrapping around her back and him holding her

Sami looked back at the charred remnants of everything in the trashcan before heading to them. He and Amanda hugged before she and Finn headed into the hotel.

Once in his room, Finn helped Amanda sit down and set her things aside before seeing a text on his phone from Enzo.

' _Headed out to a bar with some of the others, want to join us?'_

' _Can't this time, something's happened that I can't explain now.'_ Finn responded.

' _Alright but whatever happened, you better keep an eye on her.'_

"He knows us too well…" Amanda said quietly as she reached down and unzipped her duffel bag, grabbing what she needed before heading to the bathroom.

She rinsed what was left of her makeup off before reaching under her grey cami and removing her strapless bra, slipping her sandals and cut off denim shorts off next, leaving her in her greyish purple satin hiphugger panties… heading back into the room, she put her things away in her bag and zipped it before pulling the covers back on the bed.

"Not gonna bother with any shorts tonight?" Finn asked, trying to joke a little as he and Amanda got themselves comfortable in the only bed in the room… he was just down to his boxers as he also decided not to bother with pajamas and both their phones were on sleep mode.

His joke did coax a small smile out of Amanda as she let her hair out of its ponytail and set the blue and white striped ponytail holder aside… but the smile didn't last long though as when she moved to her left side to get more comfortable, pain jarred through her cracked ribs and Finn reached over and brushed Amanda's hair out of her face.

She wasn't sure what hurt worse, Seth slamming the chair into her ribs or that he believed Alexa… but as Amanda closed her eyes and drifted off into a much needed sleep, Finn kissed her on her forehead and looked at her again.

"I don't blame ya in the slightest, Mandy…" Finn whispered before closing his own eyes as Amanda curled up against him.

Nothing was more comforting than being held.


	2. Is It Worth Holding Onto?

It was early into the next morning when Amanda and Finn heard the angered yelling outside and looked at each other.

"He found it…" Amanda said quietly as Finn sleepily buried his face into her disheveled hair. "Burning those things was one way of dealing with it… and thinking back, it might've not been the best idea. I just… I felt like I had lost him for good when he said what he did." She said as they looked at each other, Finn lightly brushing Amanda's hair back.

Unknown to them, Sariel heard what Amanda had said… she had heard Amanda talking in her sleep earlier and had been observing her and Finn since.

But she incidentally knocked the chair leg into the wall as she left… and for a second, Amanda saw her.

"Who was…" Amanda started to whisper.

"Was someone there?" Finn asked.

"For a few seconds… then she disappeared." Amanda answered, lying back down as she felt Finn's left hand resting on her back.

Out in the hallway, it didn't take long for Sariel to see Seth and Dean.

"You're the one who betrayed her, why so surprised that she burned everything that meant the world to both of you?! Face it, Seth, you lost Mandy for good this time!" Dean said angrily, neither him or Seth taking notice of Sariel… until she appeared to them.

"Okay, this isn't fucking funny!" Seth said, thinking that Amanda was playing a prank on them.

"Trust me, she ever goes near you again, you'll end up on the wrong end of a bat or her fists." Sariel responded.

"Who… are you?" Dean asked.

"You really want to know?" Sariel questioned before she looked at Seth. "Play dead." She said, suddenly raising her hand and Seth collapsing, his breathing stopping for a few seconds as Dean crouched down to check him over, and once he was breathing again he quickly shot back up to a seated position, Sariel looking over the hand she'd raised. "It's an angel's touch, you might say… actually, that's exactly what it is."

"You killed me!" Seth said as he pulled himself back up.

"Man up a bit, you're still standing… that's not right to say, damn it Erela's power is getting to me too much… I'm sorry…" Sariel said, her fists bunching up for a moment midway through.

"He ain't my problem anymore, _you_ deal with him, bitch!" All three heard Amanda yell when Alexa had started banging her fist against the wall.

"Yep, she's really pissed off this time." Dean said.

"Can't blame her one bit." Sariel said as Seth went to try to shut Alexa up. "I'm sorry I did that, made him collapse. I'm between two minds right now in a sense, fortunately the other one is sort of… unconscious now."

Alexa let Seth in and glanced at Sariel before closing the door as Dean and Sariel decided to check on Amanda. After pulling her grey flannel shorts on, Amanda opened the door… and her eyes widened when she saw Sariel and she looked back at the chair leg.

"You were in here earlier…" Amanda said quietly.

"Yeah… sorry, I've just been a bit dazed, confused… I'm carrying something I really shouldn't be, in a manner of speaking." Sariel replied.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Amanda asked before she heard her phone chime, remembering that sleep mode could automatically deactivate after a certain time… she glanced at it, seeing a text from Val.

' _What the fuck was his problem out there?!'_

' _I'll explain later.'_ Amanda replied before setting the phone down, Sariel seeing the bruise through the thin material of Amanda's cami.

"So what is going on here?" Finn asked after standing up, pulling his jeans back on.

"As in who am I? Well… usually, I'm the one who guides. When you're lost and without hope, I'm the one who pops in that little idea into your head… but that's usually. I'm sorta conflicting right now, I've carried someone else's power so they can have a rest… or retire." Sariel responded.

It was quiet as they processed the information… Amanda stretched a little, cringing when pain shot through her ribcage.

"I might be able to help you…" Sariel said, focusing on Amanda's chest, trying to at least numb the pain with the abilities she was holding… but all she managed to do was cause a breeze of cold air to brush over her. "They aren't my powers to use… it's driving me mad."

"It would drive me mad too if…" Amanda said, trailing off.

"You can't understand it… you aren't meant to, just like I'm not meant to hold the key to nature. In basic terms, I'm the angel of guidance and the angel of nature is tired, she's taking a long rest and I'm holding onto her powers until she's back, like… I don't know, leaving a pet with a neighbour while you go on a vacation." Sariel said.

At the arena for the _SmackDown_ taping, Amanda was quiet again… and Finn knew that she was still processing what Sariel had explained.

But he also knew she was still hurting and carefully rested his right hand on her back.

"It's one thing to make it believable for the viewers… it's another to flip out entirely. I read it over and over again, not once was he supposed to hit me last night." Amanda responded as she leaned against him when his arm wrapped around her shoulders. "Is it even worth holding onto… whatever's left between him and me? I don't even know when things went wrong beyond fixing."

"Sometimes we don't… but whatever does happen, it'll be over soon." Finn said, his hand lightly squeezing on and massaging her upper arm.

Amanda still felt tired and closed her eyes, Finn pulling the blanket over her.

At the same time, Sariel was walking around when she overheard Hunter and Stephanie.

"I'm just about fed up with him, hurting her like that!" Hunter growled, Stephanie resting her hands on his shoulders.

"He was… being strange earlier." Stephanie said, Hunter looking at her.

"How exactly, what happened?" Hunter asked.

"Seth had said that some angel… killed him." Stephanie answered before both noticed Sariel.

"I've apologised a lot for that already." Sariel said, a bit quietly.

"That's more than he apologized for how he treated Mandy… he needs to get over his petty jealousy." Hunter said.

"He feels threatened…" Sariel replied.

"But Finn hasn't done anything to him, all he and Mandy did was become friends… Seth doesn't show any hostility to any of her other friends." Stephanie said.

"Were there any other incidents recently?" Sariel asked.


	3. Anger Can't Always Be Contained

_**Seven weeks ago…**_

 _Seth was walking around when he saw the filming crew… and saw what they were filming, one of the promos for The Beast In The East pay per view._

 _Aestrid, who had been supervising, turned and saw him and how angered he was. Thinking to keep things controlled, she walked over and physically stopped him from charging over towards Finn and Amanda._

" _It's work, back off!" Aestrid warned lowly, Seth leaving._

 _But it didn't mean that Amanda didn't notice._

 _It was later during the Raw event that she found him._

" _Hey… that was great out there." Seth heard, seeing Amanda… she reached out to hug him but stopped when he lightly pressed his fingers into her collarbone. "Okay, that's not like you at all… what's going on here, Seth?" The 25 year old diva said, confused._

" _Nothing." Seth answered and turned to leave… he reached the edge of the hallway when he heard "You know, I'm getting really sick of this, Rollins!" and turned back, walking to Amanda._

" _What did you just say to me?!" Seth demanded._

" _Lately, you've treated me like we barely know each other… and you might not care but that hurts me, Seth. What did I do wrong, why don't you want anything to do with me anymore?" Amanda responded, Seth slamming the WWE Championship down in rage and muttering a name under his breath… but Amanda heard it. "He is my friend but the Demon King and Demon Mistress thing, it's just a storyline, Seth. Just like The Shield splitting apart was for the cameras, it shouldn't affect us backstage. Are you feeling threatened that you're losing me?" She said before he turned back to her._

" _Well it does! Before we know it, you'll be in the same bed and room, you'll be walking out into the arena hand in hand, leg up and lips together and it will be far from 'just an act'!" Seth said._

 _Amanda balled up her left hand and punched Seth across the face, only to hear footsteps and see her old friend Joey Mercury after he pulled her back._

" _Both of you calm down." Joey said, trying to keep the peace between the two._

" _Joey, stay outta this!" Seth snapped at him._

 _Amanda carefully pulled herself away and walked off, Joey turning to Seth._

" _That was low, even for you! Mandy is a damn loyal friend, you idiot! And now you just want to kick her to the side because she's found the kind of happiness she hasn't had in years?!" Joey said._

 _Down the hallway, Amanda pulled her hood of her Balor Club hoodie over her head, wanting to just disappear entirely._

 _She'd give him his space… but she was getting fed up with his behavior._

 _This was a lot different than NXT but_ _for Finn, it was a good way to learn, watching the main roster matches in person._

 _He stopped for a few seconds when he heard sniffling… the parts of chestnut hair sticking out from the hoodie the small woman was wearing was a dead giveaway to him. But in the few months he had known Amanda, he had never seen her this upset and walked over, crouching down and resting his hands on her knees._

 _Amanda looked up, brushing her tears away._

" _I feel so stupid… I thought that Seth and I had hit a rough patch in our friendship but that we'd fix it…" Amanda said, her voice croaky. "Why did I even bother trying? He just keeps pushing me away_ … _I called him out on it and things went to hell." She said, Finn pulling her into his arms… out of instinct, her arms_ _wrapped around him and her head rested on his left shoulder._

" _He's the one who's stupid, not you. He doesn't see what this does to you." Finn whispered before he picked Amanda up off the floor and took her to where her locker room was, putting_ _her on the couch._

 _He knew this was one of those times where she wished she could drink a glass of whiskey to soothe her nerves._

" _I was also gonna talk to him about tomorrow night's event…"_ _Amanda said, trailing off as she curled her legs up a bit so Finn could sit down. "It wouldn't be the first time in this business that it's happened, storyline relationships turning real off camera… he's acting like I betrayed him." She said quietly, Finn wrapping his arm around her shoulders after she sat up. "I'm just… I'm gonna go tell Hunter what happened and about everything…"_

 _Amanda started to stand up but stopped when Finn's left hand wrapped around her right wrist._

" _Whatever happens… between you and me or anyone else, it's none of Seth's business… there's nothing he can do but mouth off about it like a jealous little child." Finn said._

" _Who's gonna believe him anyway?... he needs to get his own life together." Amanda responded, starting to feel calmer._

" _Exactly, and we're far from the only ones who know that." Finn said, Amanda sitting down again. "Times like these… are when we find out who our true friends and companions are." He said as he wrapped his arms around her when both stretched out on the couch, her resting her head on his torso._

 _Sometimes a hug made everything a little better…_

 **Present time…**

"He really felt threatened by things changing…" Hunter said after explaining what had happened.

"He really needs to get his priorities together." Sariel responded.

At the same time, Amanda was helping Cody with the Stardust paint but he wasn't exactly cooperative.

"Hey, watch it! You're painting my head, not a damn canvas!" Cody snapped at Amanda as she painted the Stardust paint on him, having no choice really since Rachel was in Philadelphia dealing with a family emergency.

"Well if you'd stop squirming, I can finish this. Come on, Cody, there's no need to take anything out on me." Amanda responded, finishing the last bare spot of Cody's forehead with silver paint to complement the metallic blue. "Finally…" She said as Cody looked in the mirror.

"Nice work." Cody said, though it wasn't genuine at all. "Now if I can suggest something-" He started to respond after turning to Amanda, who slammed the paintbrush down.

"Before you say anything, I've got a little _suggestion_ for you! We're all slammed heading into the biggest party of the summer and the NXT TakeOver event before that, would you cut me some fucking slack?! Just because you're frustrated that creative won't drop this storyline is no reason to take it out on me!" Amanda responded angrily before storming off.

She put her earbuds in and activated IHeartRadio, _Over You_ by Daughtry blaring through them and into her ears… Amanda took a photo out of her hoodie after the song stopped, closing out IHeartRadio and putting her earbuds away.

In it was a much younger Amanda and a little girl next to her who looked eerily similar except the girl's hazel eyes had more green in them.

"At least those two are alive… nothing's gonna bring you back." Amanda said quietly before putting the photo away and turning, seeing Finn.

"She was a childhood friend of yours…" Finn responded after realising it, Amanda nodding as she brushed her tears away as Finn pulled her into his arms and the two embraced each other.

Cody stopped at the corner of the hallway… and narrowed his eyes, promptly turning around and leaving.

 _ **WWE SmackDown taping scheduled to air 8/6/15, Stardust vs Zack Ryder…**_

Amanda was out there on commentary for the match but not talking much… Amanda was also in her mossy green and white Demon Mistress outfit with green, grey and white wings painted on her sides and arms, pale blue contact lenses in her eyes… creative had insisted on another alter persona in this storyline feud between Cody and Adrian Neville that also involved Wade Barrett and actor Stephen Amell.

It wasn't long before Zack had control of this match but as usual, Cody reversed it… and won before turning his attention to a microphone and rambling about Stephen, who he was truly convinced was Arrow.

"It's like the stars have aligned all the way from Diablo Canyon, Colorado to the 5th Dimension!" Cody continued… before noticing Amanda, who had walked into the ring. "You're here again… the Demon Mistress, the only one who could calm things down. Or try to…" He said with a slight snarl at the end.

Amanda took the microphone from Cody… and smiled a wicked smile before slapping him hard across the face, hard enough to draw blood.

"You, whether you're Cody or Stardust, you're human like me and the rest of us!" Amanda replied, Cody leaving the ring as _People Are People_ by Depeche Mode blared through the arena and Amanda positioned herself on the top turnbuckle with her right leg hooked under it as she bent down for a bit before straightening herself up with her arms spread out like Finn usually did.

Cody was seething and yelling, Amanda smiling that wicked smile again… they were both still in character.

But the lines were blurring again.


	4. No More Limits

"What the hell was that for?!" Cody yelled after heading back out to the ring, still livid as Amanda climbed down… SmackDown was on commercial break now but Cody was livid.

"That was me doing my job as part of this storyline, Cody! What, you don't like it?! Too damn bad!" Amanda responded, intent on finding Finn but Cody grabbed her by her wrist. "You touch me again, I'll beat your ass to a pulp!" She said after yanking her wrist away… and Cody turning and punching her right in the mouth.

Amanda reeled back in pain and shock, reaching to it and pulling out her right incisor… and then threw her small body at him like a battering ram, the two crashing into the barricade and Amanda repeatedly slamming her fist into Cody's face.

Cody scrambled away after picking her up and slamming her into the barricade… she had gotten hurt where it hurt her most and seeing Cody running to the other side of the barricade after falling off of it.

"It ain't over yet!" Amanda shouted after grabbing a kendo stick and chasing him down. She jumped onto the edge of the barricade and off of it, swinging the kendo stick and cracking it against Cody's face, knocking him down before repeatedly hitting him with it.

Cody pulled Amanda's right leg out from under her and caused her to fall to her back, Cody swinging at her but a fan who was in his late teens stopped him.

"Go, get her outta here!" The young fan shouted to someone who Amanda couldn't see until she was picked up into familiar arms and saw Finn, who did what the young fan instructed.

And it was a good thing he had too, the fight was escalating to more than Cody fighting with the young fan.

In the backstage area, Finn had set Amanda on the nearest examination table and quickly removed the paint from her before getting her to lie down on her side… bruises were already forming from what he could see above the waistband of her shorts, which worried him.

But as Dr. Amann walked over to examine her, Amanda let out a yell and backed away, Finn catching her before she fell off the table… and Amanda wrapping her left hand around his right one, Finn squeezing it and putting his forehead against hers.

"He truly fucking snapped." Amanda said quietly, staying still as Dr. Amann examined her.

"She's gonna need to go to the ER… sorry, kiddo." Dr. Amann replied, Finn carefully helping Amanda up to her feet.

At the nearest hospital, the MRI and X-rays revealed no fractures, breaks or internal damage, the bruises being the worst of it… Finn rested his left hand on Amanda's right side, Amanda mostly out of it from the painkillers.

"Dropped me onto the barricade like he was trying to snap me in half." Amanda muttered.

"Which is why I doubt that it was an accident… I don't doubt that you believe it was, your word I always trust… but I doubt that his intention was really so harmless." Finn responded.

"He was trying to run… that's not the actions of accidentally hurting someone, that's the actions of a coward." Amanda said before both heard someone being slammed into the wall and yelling. "Oh fuck." She whispered, both recognising John's and Cody's voices.

"Do you realise the internal damage you could've done to my sister?! What point were you trying to prove out there?!" John yelled after punching Cody… who's reaction was to spit out blood from a cut in his mouth and narrow his eyes at John.

"That people who fuck around can't expect to not be fucked with! You let something go over the cliff edge, don't expect it to not bounce back up and whack you in the face!" Cody shouted in response.

"So you get embarrassed and turn around and injure Mandy where it's hardest to recover from?!" John growled, Amanda trying to stand up but Finn stopping her.

"Is it just me or does it seem like most of our co-workers are flying off the handle?" Amanda responded.

"They're either turning against us or losing all but a hair's edge of restraint." Finn replied.

"Speaking of lack of restraint, surprised that Seth hasn't barged in yet." Amanda said as Aestrid and Dianne dragged John into the room.

"Ladies, give me one more shot at him!" John demanded… until he felt a small nudge at the back of his right leg, turned and pulled Amanda into his arms as they hugged.

When they let go, John saw the small corner of the faded picture sticking out of Amanda's hoodie.

"Keeping it makes me feel like she's still here." Amanda said.

"We all remember people in different ways… some, it's impossible to let go of." John replied.

At the hotel later, Amanda was in her pajamas and curled up in bed as Finn stretched out next to her after climbing under the covers… in the dim lighting provided by the lamp in the room, he could hardly tell the difference between Amanda and Sachael in the picture.

"It is hard to let go… you two would be twins if it weren't for her lighter eyes." Finn said quietly.

"People who didn't know us mistook us for twins… she and I were just 5 when the car crash happened…" Amanda replied, setting the photo aside as she carefully turned to face Finn but he saw her cringe as pain shot through her body and immediately took her into his arms… on instinct, her arms wrapped around him and she buried her face into his shoulder, her cries barely audible. "We were just kids… she should still be here. We're not supposed to ever lose our best friends." She said as Finn lightly rubbed his left hand up and down her back… and now he knew why he was the only one she let see her at her most vulnerable.

Amanda eventually fell asleep against Finn as he still held her, being gentle with her… as he closed his own eyes, he paid no attention to the soft rustling sound of the curtains, Sachael watching him out of curiosity of who this man holding her surrogate sister was.

"Harm her… and I'll break you." Sachael said, knowing that Finn wouldn't hear but that she'd 'inject' the words into his mind, and he'd know there was someone watching Amanda.

Finn opened his eyes halfway, unable to see Sachael but he could tell she was there… turning back to Amanda, he carefully ran his fingers on his left hand through her chestnut curls.

Sachael nodded and disappeared from the room… before turning and seeing another spirit, Chris Benoit.

"You approve of him, kid? I'm not sure what to think of him around her." Chris said.

"She seems to trust him… that's enough for me to let it happen at least." Sachael answered, before Chris noticed that her eyes briefly faded from hazel to a deep blue, like that of a newborn.

"I still don't understand that, how that works." Chris responded.

"It's only… a part of me becoming one of the angels. It's coming closer, the sooner it comes, the more often my eyes fade… like a countdown, almost." Sachael explained.

The two headed into the lobby and reached the hotel bar, finding Chris Jericho walk up to Cody and take his beer from him.

"You don't get to drink your sorrows away after hurting Mandy like that!" The blonde haired man growled.

"Oh damn. Last time I saw him this angry was when Mandy ended up with a black eye at 15." Chris said quietly.

"You don't know but I was watching that night… she hasn't spoken at all to Mark Jindrak after that." Sachael replied before her head snapped up after sensing something.

"Is he in the hotel?" Chris asked.

"Same floor…" Sachael said.

It was around 5 in the morning when Finn heard someone trying to open the door to the room and screaming drunkenly when it wouldn't open. A half asleep Amanda looked at him in confusion when he opened his eyes.

"Stay here." Finn whispered before reluctantly letting go of her and going to the door, opening it and seeing an enraged Mark Jindrak. "Mister, you've got the wrong room." He said, Mark's rage increasing.

"I don't think so, _Finn Balor!_ I'm looking for Amanda, and it's common knowledge by now that you share a room!" Mark growled.

"Holy fuck…" Amanda said as she sat up. "What the hell are you doing here?!" She asked after untangling herself from the covers and standing up, walking over.

"Was this the jackass that hit you when you were 15?" Finn asked.

"Yep, haven't spoken to him since then… Mark, what possessed you to find me after 10 years? Why don't you sober up in your own room and then we can talk." Amanda responded, eyes narrowed at the drunken man in the hallway who noticed that her right incisor was gone… and noticed from how she was standing that the missing tooth wasn't the only injury.

"Love you lots… and I saw you were around an idiot… and I love you lots… bleh, bleh, bleh, bleh." Mark responded in his drunk state.

"He's not an idiot and you're being disrespectful!" Amanda replied, Finn keeping her from lunging at the taller man.

"Leave her alone, she's had a bad night." Finn said, Mark narrowing his eyes at him.

Mark stumbled off and Finn helped Amanda lie back down before closing and locking the door, walking to her and pulling the covers over her before climbing back into the bed and stroking Amanda's hair.

"Since we won't settle into sleep anytime soon…" Amanda said before starting to explain it.


	5. Long Time Ago

_**7/4/05…**_

" _You alright there?" Amanda heard, looked and saw OVW wrestler Ken Doane, who was known as Kenny._

" _Just… thinking. We could possibly end up on the main roster around the same time." Amanda answered as 19 year old Kenny rested his right hand on her left one. "I got into the developmental roster, I start in September." She said as the two smiled._

 _Looking from the picnic table was Mark, who stood up and was stopped by Santino._

" _Buddy, relax. She's just talking to him." Santino replied, Mark standing up and walking over… he dragged Kenny up to his feet by his shirt, Amanda standing up as well._

" _Hey, no fighting! Calm down, Mark, let him go!" The 15 year old said, trying to keep things from spiraling._

" _The little lady and I were just talking!" Kenny explained but it didn't lessen Mark's anger._

" _Just talking?! No, you back off, get OUT OF HERE!" Mark yelled, before he slammed his fist into Kenny's face, and naturally Kenny began to fight back._

 _But a mistimed fist hit the wrong target, Amanda falling to the ground and John seeing it from where he was and running to her, him and Kenny helping her up._

" _Go get some ice." John said, Kenny doing so. "Mark… care to explain why you just punched my kid sister?!" He growled at the taller man, John holding Amanda close to him._

" _Aim all wrong John, every hit was for that asshole who just left!" Mark answered angrily._

" _Aim all wrong?! My eye and face feel like they just exploded! Fucking hell, Mark!" Amanda snapped, John applying the ice pack to the bruising skin under Amanda's right eye._

" _Can't take a hit, guess we all know who won't be following their brother's footsteps." Mark muttered as he looked out of the window._

 _Amanda slammed her foot into Mark's right knee and caused him to scream as he fell before she locked her legs around his left shoulder and pulled on his left arm with her hands, Mark trying to pull at her hair to get her to let go of him until he felt his shoulder snap out of its socket and John and Eddie pulled Amanda off of Mark._

 _Amanda caught her breath as she felt Eddie's hands cradle her face, Eddie lightly kissing her on her forehead._

" _I applied it wrong, didn't I, Eddie?" Amanda asked quietly as Eddie stroked her hair._

" _You'll learn in time, kiddo. It takes years of practice, even some of us on the shows get it wrong from time to time." Eddie responded._

 _Amanda nodded as Mark stood up and relocated his shoulder before limping off._

" _I like that kick to the knee though." Eddie said._

" _If I could suplex him, I would." Amanda replied as the two chuckled and hugged…_

 **Present time…**

"Didn't exactly have a solid grip on submission holds then… once Eddie and Chris started helping, I picked it up like it was second nature. Turned out that day that Mark had fractured my right eye socket… but when a man who's 6'6" punches a girl barely over 5ft tall, something's gonna break." Amanda said.

"It's a foregone conclusion with that. And sometimes it takes a certain style of teaching for us to learn things, sometimes styles which only certain people can get." Finn replied.

"They always had their different styles but also had a solid friendship… they were like brothers. Chris took Eddie's death like he had lost himself… and in a way, he had." Amanda responded as both heard the curtains rustling and saw that the window was open. "I thought hotel windows didn't open… was it open when we fell asleep?" She responded.

"Didn't open it." Finn said as they sat up… and Amanda remembering.

"There was this one violent storm in spring of 2005 that left Fayetteville in a blackout… when it started feeling stifling, Chris opened the windows halfway to try to get some ventilation going through the house." Amanda replied. "I know you're there. What the hell's going on?" She said before Chris appeared and noticed her missing incisor before walking over and sitting down in the nearby chair.

"We're always around… but someone else is too." Chris replied.

"Sachael…" Amanda said quietly.

"Yes… and I myself am a lot more than a ghost." Sachael responded as she appeared, Amanda seeing that she now had deep blue eyes like that of an infant, and wore a long, cyan blue dress.

"We had dresses similar to that for our preschool photos…" Amanda replied.

"Yeah… we did. But this… this is the garb of angels. Quite… literally." Sachael responded with a smile at that memory.

"Sache… I've missed you so much." Amanda said as Sachael lightly wrapped her left hand around Amanda's right wrist.

"I've always been somewhere near you… you were, and always will be, like my sister. It's been too long since we've talked." Sachael replied, brushing Amanda's tears away as she again remembered the pain of losing her best friend.

"It has…" Amanda whispered as she was once again fighting exhaustion.

"Let's let them sleep, okay Chris?" Sachael replied, Chris noticing the scar on the palm of Amanda's left hand.

"I hate that I did that to myself… but I couldn't understand why you three were gone." Amanda whispered as she felt Chris's hand brush against her shoulder.

"No one takes loss lightly… but we're always here. There's no need to feel that pain anymore…" Chris responded.

"Because no one ever really leaves." Amanda whispered, Chris kissing her on her forehead.

When they were gone, Amanda and Finn settled into sleep.

It was well into the morning that Sachael appeared to Becky and Becky saw her.

"There's a strange man passed out in front of your room." Sachael replied.

"You… you were Mandy's childhood friend, I remember seeing a picture." Becky responded.

"Yes… and there's a strange man outside your door." Sachael repeated herself.

Becky stood up and opened her door, Mark slumping to the ground and hitting his head, which woke him up in his hungover state.

"Ow, my head… hi there, lady. Help me up?" Mark said, Becky pulling him up to his feet and seeing an old picture in his hand of himself and Amanda, who Becky guessed was about 13 in the photo.

"You know Mandy?" Becky asked.

"I don't know where I'd be if I didn't… but lately it hasn't been so good, to say the least." Mark answered.

"Jealous love isn't true love." Sachael responded from the edge of the room, sat on the windowsill where Mark hadn't yet noticed her. "You say you love her… but if you did, you wouldn't be hurting her by tormenting anyone else close to her, no one can take anyone for themselves."

"The love I meant when I said I love her a lot… I'm not sure how to describe it, my fiancee confronted me on it when she saw the old photos I kept." Mark explained after noticing Sachael and then turning to Becky. "Was there any kind of love between you and Finn that wasn't sibling like?" He asked.

"There was, once… but we got to know each other more and we realised that we supported each other more like siblings than romantic partners, and it just shifted to that. There's always… lingering thoughts, as with anything. But it's what we are now." Becky answered.

"I don't know what to make of him around Mandy… and someone left this on my car last night." Mark replied, showing Becky a photo that showed Amanda and Finn kissing and holding each other… but she also saw that it was edited.

"Let me guess… either a dark haired man or a blonde and red ombre haired woman left this for you." Becky replied, Mark backing up slightly when he saw that her temper was out.

Sachael scrambled out in a hurry, hoping to find someone.


End file.
